An artist who spent time working on the banks of the St. Croix River in 2013 as an artist-in-residence at the Pine Needles Cabin (operated by the St. Croix Watershed Research Station) is hosting a second event featuring “memories & stories of the St. Croix River, planned speakers interspersed with stories from the public.”

People of all backgrounds and ages are invited to come listen and share their stories about the St. Croix River. Susan Armington’s “River Tales & Dreams” exhibit is currently on display at the Marine Community Library and Christ Lutheran Church, showcasing her river paintings that weave in the stories shared by people who love the St. Croix.

Armington’s work was also featured in an exhibition at ArtReach St. Croix’s gallery in Stillwater last fall, and helped organize the “Reading the River” event in October.

Telling River StoriesA community event for all agesSponsored by Marine Community Library and Christ Lutheran Church
Sunday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m.Christ Lutheran Church150 5th St., Marine on St. Croix, MN

The first installment of River Stories in January was reportedly a great success, and inspired a thoughtful column by Suzanne Lindgren, the new editor of the Osceola Sun and Country Messenger, about growing up along the St. Croix, and now learning about risks posed by the Line 61 oil pipeline:

Mischief, beauty and wonder. These themes surfaced and intertwined when a group gathered in Marine on St. Croix to tell river stories two weeks ago.

I’m not sure what held me back from sharing my own tales of rope swings, skinny dipping, jumping from high rocks and the swing bridge. I didn’t tell about the night I floated in the current, staring into the stars with my ears underwater, hearing only my breath, feeling tiny in the universe and grateful to be part of it.

Maybe it’s because we all have river stories. Mine aren’t extraordinary or unusual; it’s the river, wild and clean, that is.